Napoli striker Victor Osimhen and Bayer Leverkusen forward Victor Boniface have emerged as the players with the most nominations for the 2023 Nigeria Pitch Awards.
Osimhen, reigning African Player of the Year was nominated in four categories while Boniface was nominated in two categories.
The 25-year-old was nominated in the Striker of the Year category alongside Boniface who has taken the Bundesliga by storm with his goals and Robert Mizo of Bayelsa United.
Osimhen is also nominated for the King of the Pitch award alongside Victor Boniface and Emeka Obioma of Enyimba Football Club.
Again, Osimhen will be battling with Kunle Soname, Remo Stars Chairman and Super Eagles captain Ahmed Musa for the prestigious Sam Okwaraji Award.
The last nomination for Osimhen is in the Sportsmanship Award where he would be facing stiff competition from Kunle Soname, Remo Stars Chairman and Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye Chairman, NPFL Board.
In other categories, reigning African Women’s Player of the Year Asisat Oshoala will slug it out with Atlético de Madrid Femenino striker Rasheedat Ajibade and Paris FC goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozi for the Queen of the Pitch Award.
The trio of Super Eagles defenders Calvin Bassey, Ola Aina and Bright Osayi-Samuel were nominated for the Defender of the Year Award while Alex Iwobi, AI Hassan Yusuf and Wilfred Ndidi were nominated for the Midfielder of the Year Award.
Speaking on the 2023 awards, Shina Philips, President of Nigeria Pitch Awards said that the journey to the 10th edition of the awards is a commitment to the growth of Nigerian football and a credible platform for rewarding excellence, hard work and talent in football.
“I would like to restate the resolve and commitment of the organizers to continue to sustain this award platform,” Philips said.
“Within the last decade, we have remained resolute in our objective of giving Nigerian football a credible award platform which can consistently motivate and inspire healthy competition among our players, coaches, administrators, sponsors and journalists.
“This has come at a great cost to us but the outcome we have witnessed in recent years has shown that it is indeed a worthwhile project.”
The 10th edition of the Nigeria Pitch Award, initially slated for March 29, has been postponed to a yet-to-be-disclosed date, as announced by the organisers
” Being nominated in the first place is a huge honour and I therefore urge all those nominated to accept their nomination with a sense of fulfilment.
“We had envisaged that the 10th Award Ceremony would be held in March during the International Match Window. Unfortunately, the team would not be coming to Nigeria.
“We will therefore announce the date for the grand 10th Award Ceremony after due consultation with all our partners.”
The Nigeria Pitch Award is Nigeria’s longest-running football award and it is supported by the Nigeria Football Federation.
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